Reviews by popery:

Pours coffee black. Opaque. The head is tan and foamy, medium to medium-small in size. Bubbles stick around for some time. Maybe, it's just selection bias, but I get the sense that cans do good things for a beer's head. The aroma is fresh and bright with hops. It's a pleasant mix of floral, spice and grass hoppiness. Sweet caramel malt in the background. Little to no aroma of darker grains. The beer has a very pleasant mix of caramel sweetness and that same bright hoppiness. There's a little more grapefruit rind to the hop character in the taste, but there's still plenty of grass and pepper. Again, little to no roasted malt presence - perhaps, just a touch in the finish. I would guess that Sinamar or a similar product was used in this beer, and I highly approve of that for this style (of course, I'm not a big ABA/BIPA/CDA fan). Mouthfeel is smooth with some light hop oiliness. Tasty beer. It's not exactly blowing me away, but it's pleasant and appealing and has little roast flavor.

This is one of my all time favorite Black IPAs and as the packaging says, this is just an IPA that happens to be black. It poured a deep black with a good tan head which was as expected. The aroma was tropical fruits and citrus hops with a slight hint of pine, and it was all IPA. The taste was as exceptional. This Black IPA was a monstrous mouthful of juicy citrus and tropical fruit hops that belittled its foreboding appearance. The finish held a lingering pine bitterness and a slight roast that was the only hint of it’s ebony appearance. The Black IPA was a fitting bookend to the fantastic Heavy Machinery IPA series and I hope they continue to release and re-brew these incredible IPAs.

On tap at several places around Austin, most notably at the brewery, Craft Pride, and Cottonwood in Houston.

A: Pours a dark brown, ruby red color. A two finger beige head forms with good retention. Light lace is left behind.S: Clean grassy, floral hops up front. Then some toasted malts, lightly bitter coffee, then finishes with bitter grapefruit. Two different bittering aromas that I am not a huge fan of.T: Follows the nose up front. At first clean grassy, floral hops. That quickly fades to a more resinous and thick character. This becomes more viscous with some chocolate and molasses flavors. Toasted malt, bitter coffee, and again finishes with more bitter grapefruit.M/D: This starts of with a medium body, but progresses more towards a full and viscous body. If that makes sense. Again, at first there is a crisp, clean palate here. Though that merges to a thicker viscous and syrupy character. I have had several without a problem. Though to many things at odds with each other for this to be a regular go to of mine.

I love ABW. Though this falls to much into the trap of the dreaded "Black IPA." No definition of style or substance. Really, one of the better version I have had. If that makes any difference. Worth a try, but I am just not a fan of the style.